Ash (Dorset)
Ash (Dorset) is a village in Dorset, England, with a population of around 1,000. There is 1 restaurant or café in the area. In June 2026, there were around 3 recorded street crimes, most commonly criminal damage & arson. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Ash (Dorset) area — all from official UK open data.
On deprivation, the Dorset area is less deprived than the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 379,579 residents at roughly 152 people per km².
My Area Score
Good
Ranked 118th of 294 English council areas — better than 60% of them.
A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology
Weather
16°COvercast
- Today: 20° / 16° · 64% rain
- Tomorrow: 23° / 17° · Mist
Source: WeatherAPI
Daylight
Sunrise 06:39Sunset 19:29
12h 50m of daylight today
Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec
Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk
Air quality
25US AQI · Good
Main pollutant: ozone
Source: WAQI · Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Crime
3 reported · July 2026▼ 25% YoY
- Anti-social behaviour1
- Other theft1
- Violence & sexual offences1
Neighbourhood team: North Dorset Rural · Dorset
Local policing priorities
- ASB (Anti-Social Behaviour) Location: Sturminster Newton- Stour Castle. Issue: Drug related ASB by those residing and visiting specific a…
- Drug Related ASB. Location: Rivers Mead- Sturminster Newton Issue: There has been an increase in reported ASB linked to drugs in the vici…
Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)
Road safety
686 reported road collisions (2024)
156 killed or seriously injured · 883 casualties · 18.1 collisions per 10,000 residents
Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)
Food hygiene
34 food businesses within 2 miles
- 33 rated 4–5 ★ (33 top)
- 0 rated 0–2 (poor)
Source: Food Standards Agency
Flood risk
Buses & trains
- 0 bus stops within ~½ mile
Source: OpenStreetMap
House prices
£325,410 average▲ 1.6% YoY
Across Dorset · to 2026-06
Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)
Private rents
£1,051 average monthly rent▲ 4.8% YoY
- 1 bed £728
- 2 bed £961
- 3 bed £1,184
Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07
Affordability
9.9× house price to earnings
A typical home costs 9.9 times median annual pay (9.5× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).
Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025
EV charging
6 charging locations within ~8 km
- 3 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
- Fastest nearby: 120 kW
- Nearest: BFTC Park Road Car Park (3.1 km)
Source: Open Charge Map
Sport & leisure
- Swimming pools1
- Sports pitches4
- Playgrounds2
Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)
Population
379,579 residents in Dorset · 152/km²
- Under 16: 15%
- 16–64: 55%
- 65+: 30%
Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)
Deprivation
Less deprived than the average in England
Ranked 197 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)
3% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%
Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019
Council tax
£2,765 a year · Band D, 2026-27
Most homes here are Band C (23% of 187,680)
Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27
Schools
184 schools · 51,332 pupils
119 primary · 18 secondary · 47 other
Ofsted: 68 of 86 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (79%)
158inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)
Secondary schools:
- Beaminster SchoolGood
- Dorset Studio SchoolGood
- Gillingham SchoolGood
- Shaftesbury SchoolGood
- The Blandford SchoolGood
- The Swanage SchoolGood
- The Woodroffe SchoolGood
- Wey Valley AcademyGood
- All Saints' Church of England AcademyRequires improvement
- Budmouth Academy WeymouthRequires improvement
- Queen Elizabeth's SchoolRequires improvement
- Ferndown Upper School
- Lytchett Minster School
- Sturminster Newton High School
- The Gryphon School
- The Purbeck School
- The Sir John Colfox Academy
- The Thomas Hardye School
Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Dorset
Care & health services
385 CQC-registered services
- Care homes121
- GP practices59
- Dentists84
- Homecare agencies86
- Hospitals & hospices14
CQC ratings: 96% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate
Source: Care Quality Commission · Dorset
Heritage & planning
- Not in the Green Belt
- 25 listed buildings within ~1.5 km
Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)
Planning decisions
662 applications decided
92.4% granted · 612 granted, 50 refused
Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1
Council control
Liberal Democrat / Green coalition
- Lab 2
- Con 30
- LD 42
- Grn 4
- Oth 4
Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)
Amenities nearby
- Restaurants & cafés1
Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)
Local businesses
20,515 active business enterprises in the area
Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)
Local economy
£737 median full-time weekly pay
2.3% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits
£27,403 disposable income per head (2024)
Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI
Energy efficiency
43% of homes rated EPC C or above
Most common band: D · 186,790 certificates
9.9% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)
Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty
Health
Life expectancy: 85.4 yrs women · 82.1 yrs men
Healthy life expectancy: 65.6 women · 65.3 men
66% of adults overweight or obese
Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025
Wellbeing
- Life satisfaction7.6
- Feeling worthwhile7.9
- Happiness yesterday7.6
- Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)2.9
Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23
Local petitions
Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in North Dorset:
- Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership353 local signatures · 163,883 nationwide
- Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership341 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
- Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office306 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
- Do not ban social media for under 16s286 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
- Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases260 local signatures · 104,741 nationwide
Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06
Notable places nearby
Ash (near Stourpaine) · 1.0 kmAsh is a hamlet approximately 0.5 miles (1 km) north of the village of Stourpaine, Dorset, England.
Stourpaine · 1.1 kmStourpaine is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated in the valley of the River Stour in the Dorset administrative district, three miles northwest of Blandfor…
Stourpaine and Durweston railway station · 1.3 kmStourpaine & Durweston Halt was a railway station in the English county of Dorset. It was located between Shillingstone and Blandford Forum on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. The station consisted of a small conc…
Durweston · 1.8 kmDurweston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies two miles northwest of the town of Blandford Forum. It is sited by the River Stour at the point where it flows out of the Blackmore Vale…
Stepleton House · 1.9 kmStepleton House is a 17th-century country house in the parish of Iwerne Stepleton in Dorset, situated about 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Hod Hill · 1.9 kmHod Hill is a large hill fort in the Blackmore Vale, 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England. The fort sits on a 143 m (469 ft) chalk hill of the same name that lies between the adjacent Dorset D…
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)
Nearby towns
Frequently asked questions
- Where is Ash (Dorset)?
- Ash (Dorset) is a town in Dorset, England, in the Dorset local authority.
- How deprived is Ash (Dorset)?
- The Dorset local authority, which includes Ash (Dorset), is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.